In his 24-year first-class career, he scored 19,410 runs. 57 centuries and 91 half centuries. Two winners of the Ranji Trophy but there is no international career like this in India. He completed 31 tests and two waves. In the test, with an average of 34.10 in 1944, Wasim Jaffer is unable to recognise This is the mystery surrounding him.
He made his international debut in 2000. But he will definitely want to forget that series. He could not do anything worth talking about in the debut series. Not only in the debut series but also in international cricket, he has had no success to speak of. But he could have been one of India’s best Test batter.
In an interview given to First Post in February 2013, he said, “When I came to the tea break, I came to know that I was not selected for the national team. I was batting at 74 runs. And I was doing well at batting. What can I do about getting a chance on the national team? I could only do what I was doing. That is, I can run a lot. I can hope that I will get a call to the national team. If I can get a lot of runs, then I will have a chance.”
Wasim jaffer expressed his disappointment with these words. He expressed his frustration after not being considered for the series against Australia at home in 2013 despite scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket. He was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan, who scored half his runs in the Ranji Trophy.
In September 2013, Wasim Jaffer was named the captain of the Western Region in the Dilip Trophy. However, despite performing well for Mumbai in the previous two years, he was not considered for the zonal tournament.
Then Wasim Jaffer said to DNA India, “I really don’t know why they didn’t consider me for the last two years.” I think I am two years older now. Age is not for me. When the Indian team was losing, they didn’t consider me. Shikhar (Shikhar Dhawan) was taken instead of me. There’s no way to complain because he did well. But I was close enough to them to consider it.”
When Wasim Jaffer left Mumbai in September 2015, many news agencies asked him why he was not given a farewell ceremony. Jaffer then said that he is not sure that Sachin will send him off with a farewell ceremony. When he left Mumbai for Vidarbha in 2015, the Mumbai Cricket Association did not send him off with a farewell ceremony. However, he scored around 10,056 runs in 19 years for Mumbai. In contrast, Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai’s best cricketer, scored only 4281 runs for Mumbai in 25 years.
Two things can be found in this speech: first, the anger of the national team for being repeatedly neglected. And secondly, despite performing regularly in domestic cricket, he regrets not getting a chance in the team again and again.
Wasim Jaffer made headlines for the first time, aged 15, when he played an inning of 400 runs for the school team in the Gillespie Shield cricket tournament. Soon after that, he got a chance with the Bombay U-16 and U-19 teams. And there he continued his run streak. Wasim Jafer made his first-class cricket debut for Mumbai in the 1996–97 season.
At just 18, he was being compared to Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. The comparison started with him after he scored a triple century against Saurashtra in his second first-class match.
After playing for the Mumbai team from 1997 to 2015, he decided to leave Mumbai. He captained Mumbai to two Ranji Trophy titles. He played for Vidarbha from 2016 until the end of his career.
Vidarbha won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the 2017-18 session. Wasim Jaffer played in that Vidarbha team. scored 595 runs at an average of 54.09. Even at the age of 40, Durdanta performed well and became the fifth-best run scorer in the 2017–18 season.
He became the sixth batsman in Ranji Trophy history to reach the milestone of 18,000 runs. Wasim Jaffer is the only Indian batsman who has played 250 innings, even at the age of 40. After several prolific sessions, Jaffer got his chance with the national team for the first time in 2000. He scored only 46 runs in just four innings in the series against South Africa. As a result, he was dropped from the team. After that, he was given the opportunity to rejoin the team after a two-year hiatus. Two things never changed in Wasim Jaffer’s career. Firstly, not being a regular in the national team and, secondly, scoring regular runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
Wasim Jaffer played only 31 tests for the national team from 2000 to 2008. Of course, absolutely nothing could be done. scored five centuries, two of which were double centuries. With 34 runs, he scored 1944 runs in 31 tests.
However, it will not be possible to match his performance in domestic cricket with his international career. He played in all test matches, with the exception of two against Bangladesh, against opponents such as South Africa and Australia. The best period of his international career was in 2007. He scored five centuries and seven fifties for India at that time. In 2007, he scored a double century against archrival Pakistan in Kolkata. Sunil Gavaskar and Vinu Mankar previously held this record.
Wasim Jaffer will only be able to play seven more tests after this one in Kolkata. He played only one hundred and fifty innings in these seven matches. He was out of the national team for quite some time during the Kolkata Test. Then, in 2008, he was called to the national team again. But due to not being able to say anything, he was left out of the team again.
He never got another chance with the national team after that. Jaffer’s style of play does not suit modern cricket. He played cricket calmly and steadfastly. His opening partner, Virender Sehwag, was his complete opposite. Every stroke of Durdanta captivated the audience. Jaffer was in Sehwag’s shadow. The audience enjoyed watching Sehwag’s bowlers’ batting. But on the contrary, Jaffer’s traditional batting was not very comfortable.
In 2013, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were called up for the series against Australia. The selectors then focused on building a very young team. Dhawan’s inclusion was due to his good performance. Murali Vijay, on the other hand, did not have much of a domestic record. Later, Vijay was only a reserve opener.
Gautam Gambhir was in the national team when Wasim Jaffer was in excellent form in domestic cricket in 2011-12. Each time, some mercurial batsman was replaced by Jaffer. Those who could not play classical cricket like Wasim Jaffer. They were technically far behind Jaffer.
All in all, Jaffer remained a mystery in Indian cricket.
